Referee Jeremy Simpson was the man at the centre of the three main talking points during a game in which both sides had their share of chances.

Reading led with the final kick of the first half when McCleary converted a penalty after Ipswich midfielder Ward had handled on the edge of the area from Blackett's attempted cross.

Blackett found himself at the centre of the action again following the restart when he was penalised for fouling Pitman at the back post as they tried to meet Jonas Knudsen's cross.

Pitman converted the resulting spot-kick and his side looked the more likely to go on and net a winner.

Ward latched on to Kevin Bru's low cross, but Royals goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi was able to palm away his neat turn and shot on the penalty spot.

John Swift went close for Reading after coming on as a second-half substitute, but Ipswich goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski was able to push away his dipping strike.

Just as both sides looked set to take a point, referee Simpson finally punished Ipswich defender Knudsen for tangling with Van den Berg as both sets of players waited for a corner.

Van den Berg and Ipswich's Christophe Berra had moments before been warned for a similar tangle and referee Simpson appeared to lose patience at the next opportunity.

Williams stepped up to send Bialkowski the wrong way and secure the three points, leaving Ipswich players aggrieved at the final whistle.

Reading manager Jaap Stam: "It's difficult for referees, for sure. The first penalty, you can give it, because it is a handball and if it goes past that player, maybe it gives us an opportunity to score.

"The second one, wasn't a penalty at all. Maybe because of the situation, he made a decision to give it.

"Our second penalty is a penalty as they're just holding Joey in the box and that's why he went down."

Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy: "I'm not going to speak about the decision at the end, as I'll get myself in trouble, so it's best I leave it alone.

"I have to say I'm aggrieved with all three penalties. I'm pretty sure Jaap wasn't best pleased with the one we were given.

"Take those decisions out of the game, I thought we played really well today and it was a good performance. I thought we were the better team in the second half and we looked like winning it.

"Unfortunately, yet again one of our results has been based on a referee's decision. I would prefer to never, ever speak about refereeing decisions."

Garath McCleary's first-half penalty against Ipswich was his second goal of the season

Ipswich's Brett Pitman is challenged by Tyler Blackett in the area and is awarded a second-half penalty